Conductive overshoe



Oct; 1960 G. J. MELMAN ETAL 2,958,012

I CONDUCTIVE OVERSHOE Fil .ed Nov. '3. 1958 I mentor Gem 6 g ICZJTZQJZan 2 H. k522i fittomagy United States Patent 2,958,012 I 'CONDUCTIVEovERsHoE George 1. Melman and Louis S. Epstein, Wilmington, DeL,assignors to George Melman & Co.

Filed Nov. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 771,623 6 Claims. (Cl. 317-2) Inmany areassuch'as the operation rooms of 'hospi-- 2,958,012 Patented Oct. 25, 1960position, the top sections being spread apart to expose a portion of theinside sole; v Figure 2 is a similar view, in partially folded positionshowing the bottom of the sole;

Figure 3 is a side elevation, partly in section showing the overshoe onthe foot of a wearer; and

Figure 4 is a sectional detail of Figure 3.

As can be seen in Figure l, the overshoe 1 of this invention has anupper, leg encasing section 2 which is composed of one piece of materialthe ends of which overlap as shown at 3 in Figure I. The taper of theends at 4 and 5 are such that the overlapping extends to the top 6 ofthe article. Therefore, the overshoe completely envelops the foot and aportion of the leg, for the bottom overlap at 3 and the continuousoverlap running up the sides prevent any exposure. The height of theovershoe may be varied to meet the need.

tals, communicable disease wards and nurseries, it is desired to havedoctors, nurses and other attendants move about freely but to do sowithout exposing patients to infectious matter such as bacteria, virusesand similar agents. Precautions are taken as is well known and as iswell established in the use, for example, of masks, gowns and gloves bythose attendants. However, little attention has been given to the feetas a source of infectious matter coming into the areas that are to bekept uncontaminated. Further, it has recently been found that infectiousmatter can be carried away from these areas. To illustrate, whileconsiderable care is'taken to conduct aseptic surgery, pathogenicmicroorganisms can be and frequently are introduced in and about thearea from the patient upon whom the'operation is being eflectcd. Thosein attendance are naturally exposed to the atmosphere, the floors andother surroundings of hte quarters. Persons moving about in the area innormal footwear and leaving the area in that footwear have been found tocarry away with them to other areas of the hopsital contaminants, as,for example, staphylococci. Exposure to such contaminants affects thehealth not only of otherstalf members but of other patients in the unit.Runs of ellections have been traced to such sources.

Accordingly, an objective of this invention is to prevent the aboveundesirable exposures. Another object is the provision of an, article offootwear which is protective. Still another objective is providing ameans and a method of covering the normal footwear of attendants inaseptic operations with sterilized articles which may be disposed of andleft behind in the area. These and other'purposes are found hereinafter.

The objects of this invention are accomplished by the provision of adisposable overshoe which is made largely of paper yet'which may beexposed in conventional steriliz ers for sterile'use and reuse. Thearticle of this invention comprises an upper portion encasing the leg ofthe wearer connected to a bottom portion which is generally a conductivematerial and means to completely envelop the foot and a portion of theleg of the wearer and means to effect electrical contact of the wearerwith the conduc- 1 Shown in Figure lare the tie strings 7 and 8. Theseare placed at the bottom of the shoe and areconnected, as is the topportion, to the sole 9 of the protector. These tie strings are anchoredat the heel end and, as shown in Figure 3, they are spiralled on theoutside of the upper portion and tied at 10. The positioning 'of thestrings provides for integration of the overshoe with the foot. Theprotector rises, falls and moves with the foot. It does not slip downnor does it tend to remain behind when the heel is lifted. Being unitarywith the foot the attendant is free to move about assuredly, withoutconcern for the fastening or unfastening of the device.

As shown in Figure 1 the'sole 9 has an inner portion 11 of a conductivematerial and as shown in Figure 2 the outside or the bottom of the soleis also made of a conductive material. The purpose of the conductor isto ground the wearer so that accumulation of static electricity can beavoided. Electrostatic discharges are thereby prevented. This isimportant in avoiding ignition of inflammable materials, such as ether,which may be about and also in. avoiding subjecting persons todiscomforting shocks. In addition to the conductive sole, the overshoehas attached to the heel a long, thin ribbon 12 of the same material asis the sole. .By means of this direct, next-to-skin contact can beeasily effected by the wearer's simply inserting the end'of this ribboninto the sox. Not only is the entire sole 13 and heel 14 of the wearerin contact with conductive material, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, but adirect, skin contact is made. This effective grounding eliminates thepossibility of electrostatic forces. This conductive ribbon '12 can beof any length desired and can be long enough to actually surround theleg of the wearer and two may be used if desired. Normally, only one isneeded for additional anchoring of the shoe to the wearer is not neededand the skin contact of one ribbon suffices.

The conductive sole of the shoe may be made from paper, fabrics, leatherand similar materials. These are treated with water-insensitive,conducting materials in such fashion to laminate, impregnate or bond theconductive material to the substrate. In this invention the conductivematerial, such as graphite, is applied to the paper or fabric of whichsole 9 is to be made so that it is thoroughly distributed on both sidesand throughout the sole. A water-resistant binder is applied, such as asynthetic, polymeric base, a lacquer or the like, which is dried or meltpressed or fixed into binding position by similar treatments. Theconductive materials have resistances which meet all requirements ofhospitals for safe practice in hospital operating rooms. The sticking ofthe parts to the sole including the anchoring of the strings and ribbonsat 15 is done with sturdy material, the upper usually being stitched tothe sole as shown in Figure 1, and the whole garment can withstandconsiderable wear without tearing or loosening. This adds to,

safety.

The upper section ofthe overshoe, as well as the sole,

the conductive ribbon and the tie strings are sturdy,

steam-resistant materials. As. shown in Figure 1, at and 16, the variouselements are shown sewed to the sole. These elements and the bindingthread are resistant to water at elevated temperatures. Theyare usuallymade from a durable, tough, fibrous-paper. This may be single, double ormultiple thickness paper; usually of a.

porous, flexible type. The paper is held together by the interweaving ormeshing of individual particles .or by the use of fibers or filamentsbonding layers together, the filacontaining a water insensitive,conductive throughout; attached to edges of said sole portion an upperportion being a sheet of flexible material the ends of which are inoverlapping position adapted to coact in spreading apart to admit thefoot of the wearer and to envelop it completely; attached to the saidsole a flexible ribbon containing a water insensitive, conductivematerial and having a freely moveable length sufficient to allow;next-to-skin contact with the wearer to effect the electrical grounding'of the wearer to avoid accumulation of static electricity; and meanstofasten the garment tothe wearer.

'2. A garment in accordance with claim 1 in which the said ribbon isattached to the sole at its-heel portion.

cloth. While steam penetration in the autoclave is comparable, thepenetration of bacteria takes much longer so the paper article isdecidedly preferable.

In addition to this is the economic advantage. Articles constructed fromcloth are considerably more expensive. Their disposal after only one useis serious at any time and particularly in large hospitals where largenumbers of the articles are to be used. The articles of this inventioncan be used once and disposed of without concern of the economicaspects, for their construction from relatively inexpensive materialsaffords their availability at low cost. Their sturdiness' permitsfrequent reuse. Most important, this invention provides a method and ameans for controlling contaminating materials in vital areas.

While the invention has been disclosed herein in conv nection withcertain embodiments and certain structural and procedural details, it isclear that changes, modifica tions or equivalents can be used by thoseskilled in the art; accordingly, such. changes within the principles ofthis invention are intended to be included within the scope of theclaims below.

We claim:

1. A garment adapted to be worn over the human foot and to envelop itcompletely comprising a sole portion 3. A garment in accordance withclaim 1 in which the said means to fasten the garment to the wearercomprises tie strings fixed to the heel portion of the sole of thegarment.

4. A garment, adapted to be worn over the human foot and to envelop itcompletely, comprising an upper section encasing a portion of the leg;meansfor grounding the person of the wearer comprising a conductive soleand connected to said conductive sole a conductive strip having a freelymoveable length sufiicient to allow nextto-skin contact of the wearer toeffect the grounding of the wearer and prevent accumulation of staticelectricity, said leg encasing portion being atfixed to the said soleportion in an overlapping position maintained throughout the height ofsaid garment; and means to iasten the garment to the wearer. v

5. A claim in accordance with claim 4 in which said fastening meanscomprises tie strings fixed to the said sole portion at the heel sectionof said sole portion.

6. A claim in accordance with claim 4 in which said conductive strip isfixed to'the said conductive sole portion at the heel section of saidsole portion.

References Cited in the 'file of patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 228,769Mayall June 15, 1880 904,2s4 Fox Nov. 17, 1908 1,464,981 Fen ton Aug.14, 1923 1,748,607 Jarrett Feb. 25, 1930 2,287,744 Monahan June 23. 19422,650,327 Legge Aug. 25, 1953 2,671,185

Bloom Mar. 2, 1954 material

